These Moments Between You and Me
by detective-sweetheart
Summary: ...and after a moment, she realizes that he's singing, too.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Random fic that I've had in my head for a while and somehow it only just managed to get out on paper and then on a computer the way I want it. Follows canon up to the finale, and then it kinda veers off, because I don't know what's happening next season. SVU's not mine. **

* * *

"Always did have bad timing," she remarks, and he laughs, because he knows she doesn't really mean it, and is just trying to find a way to deal with it, the same way he is. So he shakes his head at her, as they sit across from each other at their desks, alone in the squad room, because Munch and Fin are gone, and neither of them know where the hell the other two detectives went, and honestly, neither of them really care.

"I know," he says. "I just…it's strange, you know?"

She knows, but at the same time, she doesn't. She's never had children of her own, but he has, and she knows this, because she's known his kids for as long as she's known him. And she knows it's been fourteen years since the last two. If it's throwing her for a loop, it's gotta be throwing him for one.

"Yeah," she says, finally. "I know." And again, she does, but she doesn't. And she looks at her partner then, but he says nothing, and she can see something there that's been missing for quite a while. It's back again. She gives him a sideways look and he notices, looking back at her.

"Something wrong?" he asks, and she shakes her head.

"No," she says. "No, nothing's wrong."

And he wonders if she's lying, because it almost feels like she is, but then she grins at him, and goes on. "I'm not the one who's in for it later on."

He laughs, again, because she has a point, and he knows it. "Thanks, Liv," he says. "That really helps."

"Thought it might. Now do you mind doing your half of the paperwork? I'm not looking to live here for another six months."

He does it, because he's bored now, and because he doesn't want to stay there either. He wants to go home.

* * *

When the announcement is made to the squad, he notices her smirking, and rolls his eyes as the comments come, one by one. Most of them are congratulatory, others are more…inappropriate than anything else, but the squad is what the squad is, and he doesn't care.

"So," she says, once everything's been said and done, "How does it feel, knowing you're about to be a father, again?"

He doesn't know. Part of him is thrilled, but the other part is wondering what the hell they were thinking, five kids on a cop's paycheck and heaven only knows what can happen. He tells the other side to shut up, and for once it listens to him, unlike before.

"I'm not sure," he says, and really isn't. "I haven't had time to think about it yet."

They haven't, either, she muses, the squad's been running them all into the ground lately, the cases, and the victims, and everything in between, and now, this has come along, something wonderful in a world where everything else seems so awful.

"'Least you know this one will be raised by people who love him, or her," she remarks finally. He gives her an amused look.

"Would that I could say the same for every child born into this world," he says, and looks at the pen he's had in his mouth for the past few minutes. "Hand me another pen, will you?"

* * *

She's there when he starts doubting himself in the middle of the night, and shows up at her apartment, holding a bag, and a cup of coffee which he pushes at her as he walks inside.

"Figured it was the least I could do for waking you up," he mumbles, almost inaudibly. She takes the bag and peers inside. Chocolate. Her partner knows her too well.

"What's up?" she asks, though she has the feeling she already knows. He looks at her, and she can tell he hasn't been sleeping, the damn liar, he'd told her he was going up to the crib every day for the past five days, so he could catch an hour or two of sleep, but no. She pokes at him until he goes into the living room where he sits, and buries his face in his hands.

"I don't know if I can do this."

And she feels something inside her snap, then, because if Elliot Stabler can't handle a child, then she doesn't know who can.

"Look at me," she says, when she sits beside him, and he does. She offers up a faint smile and tears open the bag of candy, to share with him.

"You'll do fine."

* * *

He kicks her foot under the desk, and she kicks him back. They've been at it for the past few minutes. He's waiting for her to break and tell him to 'Cut it out, Stabler', like she normally does, but she's being stubborn, and so is he.

"I'm not giving you another pen, Elliot," she says, finally, not what he was expecting, but still.

"Why not?" he asks, because he can't find his, and needs one, and besides that, feels like being obnoxious. She glares at him, but the amused look he can see in her eyes tells him she doesn't really mean it. He smirks. She shakes her head.

"Because you chew them, and it's disgusting," she says, with a note of finality that tells him the debate is over, for the moment.

And then there is silence. He pushes at her foot. She pushes back.

A few minutes later, a pen misses his head by half an inch. He looks up, startled, and she laughs.

* * *

The call comes in the middle of the night. He answers, because it's her, and because it's work. And so he goes into Manhattan, and meets her.

"Should've called Munch or Fin," she says, which makes him wonder why.

"What've we got?" he asks, slowly. She motions towards the medical examiner.

"I don't think you're gonna want to…" she starts, but it is too late. He has already seen. And he looks away, because it upsets him and he feels her hand on his shoulder as he does.

"I'm sorry," she says, quietly, and he knows she means it. "I really should've called one of the other two."

And she feels awful because she didn't, because she'd known the minute she showed up that this isn't something that her partner needed to see. But she'd pressed the speed dial without thinking, like she always did, and now he's here, and there is no erasing the image in either of their heads.

"No," he says, finally, and she can tell it's all he can do to keep his voice from breaking. "No, it's…it's fine."  
But it isn't, really, and both of them know it. They watch as the medical examiner kicks the cooler away from where they are, in a rare display of emotion on the scene.

And then they watch as she leaves, the body bag at least ten times too large for what it contains: a child, at best a few hours old, who will never have the chance to live.

* * *

He's moody, and she can't blame him. The case has gone nowhere. It's the four of them together, the two of them, and Munch and Fin, because things are slow for once, and none of them have anything else to do. She catches him staring at a picture of his children, but says nothing. And finally, he speaks.

"You know, we deal with stuff like this every damn day, and yet it still hurts." He's quiet, almost inaudible, and she has to lean in to hear him. She sighs.

"You said it yourself," she said. "When you get used to it, it's time to leave."

And he offers up a faint smile, because he knows he said that, and he's so used to her throwing his words back at him that sometimes, it's almost funny, but he can't really find anything to laugh at this time around. He thinks of his family, of the little one that will be here before the winter is over, and it isn't even winter yet.

"I'm not used to it yet," he says, and finds it a relief, because sixteen years in the same place, and he'd think that he'd be used to it, but something…something keeps it from happening.

She looks at him, and shakes her head. "Good," she says, and he gives her a startled look.

"Why's that?"

"I don't feel like breaking in a new partner."

* * *

She drags him out for a drink a few nights later, because it's early, and the captain's let them off, and they've found a lead, and it looks like this case is going to be headed to the courtroom and to Casey pretty soon. He pretends to fight her on it, but she knows he isn't really, and as they sit across from each other, there is silence between them, for a long, long moment.

"So, how's she doing?" she asks, and he knows she means Kathy, and so he smiles and leans back in the chair.

"Well, she's not in shock anymore," he says dryly, and both of them laugh, because it's oddly amusing, for reasons neither of them can figure out at the moment.

"That's good," she says. "And the kids?"  
He makes a face, but laughs again, anyway. "They've all learned that they can beat me at poker. I'm not too sure that's a good thing."

"Never did have a good poker face when it comes to them," she says, and he rolls his eyes.

"Not in front of them, anyway," he replies. "I don't think I've laughed that hard in a while."

And she listens to this, and chuckles, because her partner is almost the way he was before the past two years, and it's a relief. She knows she's not the only one that's wished all the anger issues would go away, and while they're there under the surface, they're starting to become not as obvious.

"We should play sometime," she says, finally, smirking at him. "You and me, and Munch and Fin…maybe Casey…"

He shakes his head at her. "You're awful."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Like I said, it doesn't follow canon after the finale...there'll be hints of past canon, but other than that...Yeah. Anyway, the last part of this will lead into short pieces that are all interconnected, so I guess you could say everything else leads up to it. **

* * *

The next day, they get their suspect. And they go into the interrogation room, playing good cop, bad cop.

"You wanted things to be like they were before, when you were without a kid, didn't you?" she asks, watching their suspect carefully. She shakes her head.

"No," she insists. "No, that's not…" He cuts her off.

"Your baby's blood is on your hands," he retorts. "No one else killed her. You did it. You did it yourself, and you're proud of it, aren't you, proud of killing a helpless child…what the hell is wrong with you?"

His voice has risen to a yell, but she doesn't stop him. Before they know it, their suspect is confessing, telling them everything, hysterical, and laughing at the same time, because she's beyond caring, and they're thinking that she's lost it.

She arrests her, because he goes slamming out of the interrogation room, closing the door so hard behind him that she's afraid the glass in the mirror will shatter. But it doesn't, and she walks out, and their suspect's taken to Central Booking, where she'll stay until the trial begins.

"I'm going home," he says, bluntly, when they cross paths again. He's just come out of the captain's office. And so she nods, and watches him go.

* * *

The case is sent on to the District Attorney's Office a few days after that exchange. And they're relieved, because someone is finally being brought to justice, and they're bothered by the unperturbed look on the defendant's face, like it doesn't really matter. When the first day is over, he leaves, without a word.

She waits for a few hours before going after him. And he's right where she thought he'd be; at home, because once again, it's the place where he goes when things bother him. There's no more empty apartment, no more bottles…none of that. She envies him, and he knows it, which is why he never talks about it, unless she asks.

"Casey's gonna nail her," she tells him, as they sit there, on the front porch, because it's actually nice outside, and they can hear his two youngest down the street, in an impromptu game of kickball that they're both watching, even though they don't look like they are.

"What good is it going to do?" he asks. "There's still…" He can't bring himself to say the words, because he doesn't want to think about it, and she knows it, so they sit until he speaks again.

"You ever think about leaving?" he asks. She gives him a startled look.

"Almost quit once, few years back," she says, slowly. "You don't remember that?"

And he does, because she almost left because the case had bothered her, because the victim had come once, and she hadn't been believed, and it was she who hadn't believed her. But justice had been served there, too, the same way it hopefully will be here.

"I do," he says. "But…I don't know, Liv. I just…I don't know anymore."

* * *

He's up to something, and she knows it, because he's been watching her all day, as if he's afraid of what she'll do if she finds out, and she finds it almost funny, because it's summer, the city's hot as hell, and the only thing she'd really be mad about is if he hit her in the face with some form of water, because it'd get all over her paperwork.

"Aren't you supposed to be in court?" she asks, because the trial is still going, and Casey says that it's not going as well as she thought it would, but they're used to her saying this, and so they don't worry…much.

He shakes his head. "No. Casey says she doesn't need either of us today…maybe tomorrow…" He trails off and gives an impatient sigh. "You almost done with that?"

"With this?" she asks, motioning to the paperwork, and shaking her head. "I'm not gonna be done for a while, Stabler. What do you want?"

He sighs again, and starts tapping his pen on his desk. She gives him a look. "You know you're being annoying, don't you?"

"Is it making you want to give up on paperwork for a while?"

"It's making me want to smack you .Out with it, Elliot, if it's that important, spit it out."

And so he does. "The girls are convinced they're gonna throw their mother a baby shower sometime soon," he says, without looking her in the eye. "They wanna know if you'll help them."

* * *

She sings along softly in the car, and he looks at her, because he's never heard her sing before, and she's actually pretty darn good at it. She shrugs when he calls her on it.

"High school choir," she says. "Whatever kept me away from home at that age. You know how it is."

And he does, because his kids were the same way, anything that allowed them to avoid their parents, they'd take on, and he'd show up at the games, and choir concerts, because he could, and because he knew that even if they never admitted it, they wanted him to.

"I should record you and let Munch and Fin hear it," he says, and she swats at him, even though he's driving, because she knows how he is about it, and he gives her a look.

"You looking to get into an accident?" he asks, mock seriously, and she laughs, because she can, and because she feels like trying to annoy him, but it isn't working, because he's laughing, too.

"Nah," she says. "Don't think your family would take too well to Munch and Fin showing up to tell 'em you were dead because I got us into a car wreck."

This makes him laugh harder, and he shakes his head. "I can imagine," he says. And there is silence between the two of them for a long moment, until a new song comes on, and then she starts singing softly again, knowing that he notices, and after a moment, she realizes that he's singing, too.

* * *

Another case comes before the trial ends, which is what they expected, but this time, they'd been pushed aside by Munch and Fin, who caught it in the first place, and don't feel like giving up, for once. So they sit in the squad room, with another opportunity to catch up on paperwork, but neither of them feel like doing it, so they don't, and they know they'll pay for it later.

"So, have you and the girls gotten anywhere?" he asks, and she smirks, because she's been sworn to secrecy.

"Nope," she says. "Not that I can tell you, anyway." He gives her a mock hurt look.

"Oh, come on, Liv," he says, "What am I gonna do, go and tell Kathy what you're up to?"

"Wouldn't put it past you," she says in reply, because he's been telling her a lot lately, and the fact that he's talking to his wife a lot more often than before is one of those things, and she's happy for him, because she knows it's what he's wanted for all this time.

"I take it I'm not going to get anything out of you."

"No, you're not, and you won't get anything out of them either, so it's no use trying."

"I think they've been hanging out with you too much. If they're that good at keeping stuff from their own father…"

"They don't need to hang out with me to know how to do that, El, they learn it on their own."

"That doesn't make me feel any better, Liv."

"I didn't think it would."

He throws a pen cap at her, but she smirks, and shakes her head, and then goes back to her paperwork, just because she knows it'll bother him for the rest of the day.

* * *

The city's reached the hottest part of the summer, which is why they prefer to stay in the precinct or in the car most of the time, but for some reason, they felt like walking, and so they do.

"We're insane, you know that?" he asks her. "Walking in this weather…" He shakes his head. "What were we thinking, Liv?"

"Don't know," she replies, and bites her lip to keep from laughing at the exasperated look he gives her.

"You're supposed to work with me here," he says, mock-scowling. "It's no fun if you don't go along with it."

"You're an idiot," she says, half-affectionately, and half-something else that she doesn't quite know. The affection is there because they've been partners forever, it seems, and he's kind of like a brother, which is weird now that she actually has one.

"But you love me anyway," he says. And she does, but not in the way that she knows a lot of people think she does. There's someone else for that. She fiddles with the necklace she's wearing, and he stops suddenly in his tracks.

"I haven't seen that one before," he says, slowly. "Who'd it come from?"  
"Bought it myself," she says, lightly, determined not to go there with him just yet. "Don't give me that look."

But he laughs at her anyway, because a necklace is not really something he'd ever thought he'd hear her admit to buying, because it just doesn't seem like it's her. But it's there, and she continues to fiddle with it, and all it does is make him wonder.

* * *

"What would you do if I told you that I was seeing someone?"

The question startles the hell out of him, one, because he hadn't noticed her walking into the squad room, and two, because it's not the sort of thing he'd been expecting.

"Depends on who it is that you're seeing," he quips. She takes the rolled-up newspaper she's holding and makes like she's going to whack him across the head with it, and then smirks, dropping it onto her desk, and sitting down across from him.

"I'd tell you it's none of your business, but since you asked…" she says, and then, "Never mind. You're a detective, figure it out."

He rolls his eyes. "Nice, Liv," he says.

"Not my fault it's obvious who you're with. I'm better at hiding it than you."

"Kinda hard to hide a wedding band."

"You know what I meant."

And he does, and it's almost funny, because lately, personal lives haven't been high on their priority list for discussions, and now, suddenly, they are. He wonders if they'll ever get back to the way they were in earlier years, and sincerely hopes it'll work.

* * *

She's there when things go wrong, and when everything gets shot to hell, literally. He feels a sharp pain, and then, nothing, because something's happened, and he's lying there, on his back.

"Don't you dare die on me," she says, her voice harsh in the cold night air. "Don't you _dare_ die on me."

And for the first time in their partnership, he realizes that Olivia Benson is scared out of her mind. He'd poke at her for it if he could speak, but for some reason, he can't. Sirens come in the distance. The last case ended in a conviction, and a round of drinks at the bar, courtesy of Casey, who'd been in a better mood than all of them. He wonders why it couldn't have gone that way this time. But no, Munch and Fin had poked at them, and they'd taken the case on as well, to take some of the pressure off the other set of detectives, and now…now all of this has come down on them.

"Liv…" he says, finally, the first word he's gotten out since the shots came, and he was down. "What's on your hands?"

He's starting to go, fading in and out of consciousness by the time the ambulance arrives, and when he looks at her, before slipping out again, he realizes that it's his blood.


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

She sits in the hospital with his family, covered in his blood, and feeling uncomfortable. It has been about three weeks since he told her that Kathy was pregnant, and now, the other woman sits beside her, pale-faced and quiet.

"This isn't your fault," she says after a while, and Olivia offers up a rueful smile, because it is all she can do.

"I wasn't paying attention," she says, quietly. "It is."

And there is silence again. Maureen has fallen asleep with her head in her mother's lap, and Kathy ruffles her hair, gently.

"I don't hate you, you know," she says, and Olivia looks at her, startled, as she goes on. "I never did."

"Why?" Olivia isn't surprised to find that her voice is barely a whisper, it's been that way since the rest of the squad showed up, one by one, before leaving, to search for the one who's taken down their colleague.

Kathy offers up her own rueful smile. "Because you always sent him home."

* * *

The surgery goes well. He makes it. They put him in recovery and tell them that only family is allowed. So she waits. And after her partner's family goes in, and comes out, she continues to wait.

"You know," says Kathleen, reluctantly, "You're family, too…technically."

And those words mean the world, coming from her, but she doesn't know why. Even so, she gets to her feet, and goes in to see her partner. He's asleep. There are wires, and monitors, and beeping, and all that matters to her right now is that he's alive.

"Stubborn bastard," she says to him. "You're damn straight you'd better pull out of this one."

There is silence, and a beep. She sits, and leaned back, determined to stay, even if she falls asleep, because she isn't going to leave him alone.

* * *

He can't throw anything at her when he wakes up, so he settles for waiting until she does. And it's a long time. The sun is just going down when he opens his eyes, and he can't remember much of anything. He blinks, and realizes she's changed.

"No more blood, huh?" he says, quietly, when he notices a familiar pair of eyes looking back at him, intently. She scowls at him.

"You're not funny, Stabler," she says, and then, "You scared the hell out of me."

He gives her a mock surprised look. "Never thought I'd ever hear those words from you," he says. She resists the desire to swat at him, because it'll hurt him like hell if she does, and she knows it, so she settles for continuing to glare at him.

"Your family's been here, just so you know," she says, and doesn't miss the faint smile she can see on his face. There is silence, and then, after a moment, he speaks.

"You all right?"

And she is, so she nods, suddenly unable to say a word, and everything is ok again.

* * *

Munch and Fin have brought in the one who shot Elliot, after a weeklong search. May has faded into June. They're running the interrogation, and she observes.

"Think you're hot, don't you?" Fin demands, leaning into the kid's face. "Shot a cop, and now you're cool, is that it?"

"We can stick a needle in your arm, you know," says Munch, as if Elliot's really gone, but it's only a scare tactic, really, and Olivia knows it. The kid looks at him defiantly.

"I didn't do nothin'," he insists. Fin gives him a disgusted look, and walks out. Munch follows, and both men look at her.

"All yours, Liv," says Fin, and she nods, and goes in. The kid stares at her.

"You know that cop you shot?" she asks, and the kid snorts.

"What about him?" he asks. Olivia smirks.

"I'm his partner," she says, bluntly. "Now you have to deal with me."

* * *

He laughs when she tells him how the interrogation went and she can tell it hurts him, but he does it anyway.

"You're worse than I am," he tells her, and she laughs.

"I doubt it," she says. "It takes a lot to be worse than you."

He gives her a mock hurt look. "Thanks, Liv," he says, sarcastically, "Love you, too."

She smirks at him. "I know you do."  
He's annoyed because he's on leave, and because their captain won't let him back just yet. She knows she'd be annoyed, too, and so she sympathizes, somewhat, but at the same time, it's funny.

"You know what really sucks about this?" Elliot asks after a moment, and Olivia looks at him.

"What?" she asks.

"I'm not supposed to be drinking coffee with the damn meds."

And she laughs, because she knows he's doing it anyway.

* * *

The next time she comes around, it's because he'd poked at her over the phone until she'd agreed to it.

"They all want you to come," he'd said, of his family. "You're not imposing, Liv. Just come."

And so she does, and finds herself talked into a card game, because the kids have learned that their father's hopeless at them, and she's starting to find that she is, too.

"You know, I'm better at this when it's just the unit," she remarks, and he laughs.

"I think we both might be," he says, and then, to Elizabeth, "You can't do that, squirt."

"Yeah, I can," comes the reply, "Look. Has to match either the color or a number or go in order. Kat put down a red eight."

And he looks again, and realizes that the card his youngest has put down isn't a six like he thought it was, but a nine. Olivia pokes at him.

"You're losing your touch," she tells him. He pokes her back.

"Whose side are you on, anyway?"

* * *

"I hate being on leave," he informs her, over the phone, and she laughs, because he's said this various times over the time that's passed since he got released from the hospital. But the captain's still skittish about letting him come back just yet, and so at home is where he remains.

"Being on leave hates you too, Elliot," she says, a lame comeback, but she can't think of anything else to say, and she can just see him rolling his eyes, so she smothers a laugh.

"Are you laughing at me, Benson?" he asks, half-accusingly and half-amused. She shakes her head, and then remembers that he can't see her.

"Now, why would I do that?" she asks, mock-seriously. "I think Munch is rubbing off on you, Stabler, you're getting paranoid."

"I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that," he says. "How're things at work?"

"Same as always," she tells him. "Case in, case out, various motions, Casey getting pissed off at us because of something we've done, Cragen threatening to put us all on ass duty…"

Elliot laughs. "Cynical, aren't you?" he asks. She rolls her eyes.

"You'll be back soon enough," she replies. "And for the record, patience is a virtue."

* * *

He returns a few days after that little exchange, coming in early because he couldn't go back to sleep after the alarm went off way before it was supposed to, because he's had the thing forever and needs a new one. His desk is, for once, organized. The paperwork is done, and he surmises that she must have done it. Suddenly, the coffee he's brought her doesn't seem like enough.

"If that's for me, then I'll love you till we're not partners anymore," she says, upon walking in and noticing it. He laughs.

"It's yours," he says, and hands her the cup. She takes a sip, and looks at him. He motions to the desk. "You did my paperwork."

"It was getting on my nerves," she says nonchalantly. "You're among the most unorganized cops I've ever met."

"You're just a neat freak," he tells her, and she laughs, because she is, and because he's not, and it's exactly why half his stuff is still spilling onto her desk, but she doesn't really care, and knows that he doesn't, either, so long as it isn't falling off of his.

"I'd say you owe me, but I figure I can let you off because you got shot," she informs him. He shakes his head.

"Nice, Liv," he says, and then, "Come on. I'm taking you for breakfast."

* * *

"You ever gonna tell me who you're seeing?" he asks, as they sit on his front steps, because they can, and because they're off work, and it's the middle of the day, and summer break has just begun for the kids.

"Thought I told you that you were gonna have to figure that one out," she says, because she can, and because she knows it'll get on his nerves. He gives her a mock-exasperated look.

"Come on, Liv," he says. "How are we supposed to keep tabs on this guy if we don't know who he is?"

"'We' being you and Munch and Fin, right?" Olivia asks, dryly, and Elliot looks away, knowing that he's caught. She laughs.

"Figures," she says. "And no, you can no longer play the 'wounded in the line of duty' card. It ran out when you came back to work."

He gives her an affronted look, but doesn't mean it, really. "So you're not going to tell me, is that it?" he asks. She shakes her head.

"No," she says, "I'm not going to tell you." She pauses, and looks at him for a moment and then sighs. "All right, all right. I will tell you this."

"What?"

"Fin's already keeping tabs on this guy."

And he gives her a startled look, because suddenly, he knows exactly who she's talking about.

* * *

"We picked a date," she tells him, as they walk, because Cragen's finally seen fit to take Elliot off ass duty, and they've picked up a case.

"You're getting married?" he asks, just to be obnoxious, and she swats at him.

"No, I'm not getting married," she replies, smirking. "I meant for the baby shower. You want to know, don't you?"

"Thought my girls swore you to secrecy?"

"Well, they told me that they let Dickie in on it, so I figure I can tell you, so long as you don't go and tell Kathy. I'll know it was you if she finds out."

"Sure you will."

She decides to ignore this. "It's set for September, and if you breathe one word of it, I'll have your ass in a sling."

"September what?"

"16th."

"That's her birthday, you know."

"I think that's why the girls picked it. I have the feeling they have more than a baby shower up their sleeves."

"Why does that not surprise me?"

* * *

New York City is akin to some sort of hell on earth during the summer, he thinks. It wasn't so bad back in May, when things were only just starting to heat up, but now it's June going on July, and the weather is starting to get on his nerves.

And they're working tandem again, because they're still working the same case, and somehow, Olivia and Fin stumbled across something related, which leaves him to working with Munch.

"I know how Liv got that necklace," he says, and the older man looks at him, startled.

"She told you, huh?"

"Not directly. All she really did was say that Fin was keeping tabs on who she was seeing. Kinda obvious from there."

"I'm sure I'm not the only one Fin keeps tabs on."

"But you're the only one who she could've been talking about, because otherwise, she wouldn't have said anything."

"Good point."

They're headed to the morgue, and Elliot is driving, so he hasn't looked at Munch at all. But now, as they come to a red light, he stops and does so.

"You know that if you hurt her, I'll kick your ass, right?" he asks, and Munch laughs.

"Yeah, if Fin doesn't get to me first."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: So...yeah. SVU's still not mine. **

* * *

She gets talked into coffee with Casey, and pushed out of the squad room, by the guys, including Munch, because they're all convinced she needs a life other than the three of them.

"Just so you know," she informs them, over her shoulder, "You guys are not my life."  
And she hears their laughter as she leaves with Casey, and rolls her eyes. The unit's prosecutor gives her an amused look.

"I think both of us need a life," she says, as they leave. "How's everyone doing?"

"You want the professional rundown, or the personal one?" Olivia asks in reply, and Casey smirks.

"Both," she says. "I know you know everything, and I've been tied up in court. Might as well let me in on it."

"Everything's normal," says Olivia, as they step into the sunshine for the first time all that week, because it's been raining a lot lately. "You've got the court, we've got the precinct…Elliot's going to have another kid this winter, Fin is…himself, and Munch is…"

And she trails off there, and Casey laughs, because she knows exactly what the older woman means.

* * *

He's moved the last of his stuff back into the house in Queens by the end of that week, because he'd been putting it off, partly because he was being lazy, and partly because they weren't sure it would work. But it's working now.

The apartment's empty as they stand in it, and she shakes her head at him. "I ever catch you staying in Manhattan again, you're gonna hear it from me," she tells him. He laughs.

"And what am I supposed to do if Kathy kicks me out for a night, huh? Pretty sure Munch won't want me showing up on your doorstep."  
"He has no say in who comes to see me and he knows it."

And there's silence between them for a moment, until he speaks again. "You two think it's gonna go any farther than it has?"  
Olivia shrugs. "Don't know," she says. "I don't think either one of us have thought that far into the future."

"You know you can talk to me if he starts pissing you off, don't you?" Elliot asks, and she nods, looking amused.

"He told me you threatened to kick his ass," she says, and he looks over at her with raised eyebrows, smirking.

"I have the feeling you'd kick his ass before Fin or I could do it."

* * *

The four of them go out for drinks. It's funny, because it used to be Munch and Fin on one side, and him and Olivia on the other, but now, he sits beside Fin, and Munch sits with Olivia.

"Think the defense will try to tear us apart again?" Olivia asks dryly, because the latest case has gone to trial, finally, and Casey's gonna kill them, because she's been in court so often lately that she needs a break, and then this comes along.

"They have no reason to," says Elliot, "They did enough damage a few months ago, the hell would they want to try it again for?"

"Because the entire world is conspiring against us," Munch says dryly, and all four of them laugh.

"Maybe it wasn't really so bad," Olivia remarks, after silence falls, thoughtfully, and the men look at her strangely.

"You hit your head or something?" Fin asks. "If I never have to go through that mess again…"

"You'll die a happy man, right?" Munch asks, sarcastically, earning himself a glare from his partner.

"Maybe, maybe not," he says. "All I know is that I had enough of that the first time. They better not go after us like that again."

But the four of them together doubt that it'll happen, because the 'third time's the charm' rule has never really seemed to work with them.

* * *

They do end up playing cards. In Casey's apartment, of all places, which makes it that much funnier.

"You suck at this," Casey tells Olivia, and she laughs, and shakes her head, kicking at Elliot's foot under the table.

"Better than you're doing," she says to him, and he gives her a mock-annoyed look.

"Let's not go there," he tells her, because he knows exactly what she's going to say, and he doesn't want to hear it.

"Oh, no," she says, and turns to the other three. "That guy over there? Just learned that he sucks at this game. His own kids can beat him."

"How d'you know he's not just letting them win?" Munch asks, dryly, and Olivia shakes her head.

"Played with 'em," she says, and takes another sip from the glass in front of her, and he rolls his eyes.

"Think you've had enough, Liv?" he asks, but she shakes her head, and he knows why, and so does everyone else.

No matter how much they take, it never really seems like enough.

* * *

June drags on and she finds herself being talked into another day out of the squad room, though this time, it's more Elliot than it is the other two. And so she drives out to Queens, just so he'll stop poking her.

"Finally got tired of him, huh?" Kathy asks dryly, when she opens the door, and Olivia laughs.

"Wouldn't stop kicking my feet," she says. "It was either leave or whack him across the head."

Kathy gives her an amused look. "You should've whacked him," she says, smirking.

"Way to make him think the world's conspiring against him," says Olivia, biting her lip to keep from laughing. "So…why'd you want him to send me out here?"

And Kathy shrugs at this point, and steps outside, closing the door behind her, and pulling a set of keys out of her pocket, so she can lock up.

"Figured we could talk," she says, quietly, "If you wouldn't mind."

She doesn't.

* * *

"You're never going to tell me what happened, are you?" he asks, two days later, as they leave the squad room together, because the day's over, and they're both going to the same place.

"No," she says. "I hardly think I have to tell you the contents of every conversation I have."

"You're right, you don't. If you did, I'd be hearing about every little conspiracy theory Munch comes up with."

"He's not really that bad."

"I don't wanna know, Liv."

"Of course you don't." But she stops, anyway, because there are some places that she's not going to go, even with her partner.

The conversation's forgotten about, though, by the time they get into Queens. There's a game of kickball taking place in the street in front of the house, and somehow, the two of them get roped into it.

That night, after everything's been said and done, and she's back in Manhattan, she stares at her ceiling, and watches the shadows, amused.

* * *

"You should come out with me tonight," he says, and she kicks his foot under their desks.

"You're married," she reminds him, smirking, and he gives her a look.

"That's not what I meant," he says. "I wasn't talking about just you and me alone."

"Ah," she says. "I get it." And she does, and she's tempted to poke at him for it, but she doesn't. "I'll think about it."

It's better than nothing. He pushes at her foot anyway. "Thinking isn't good enough," he says. "Come on, Liv, it'll do you both some good, to get away from this place."

"Oh, so now you care about Munch?" she asks, giving him an amused look, and he rolls his eyes at her.

"Contrary to whatever it is that you might believe, I care about everyone in this squad room, and not only that, but I happen to think that you, dear partner, need a life."

"I have one."

"Yeah, in the squad room. You're not just a cop, you know."

She looks at him with raised eyebrows, and then looks away, wondering if she's startled by this because he's noticed, or because he's saying it out loud.

They do go out, though. And it's something she hasn't done in a while, so it's awkward, but at the same time it isn't, and for a moment, she gets the chance to see what it's like to be in a normal relationship.

"You all right?" Munch asks her, later on, when it's just the two of them, wandering around the city, because it's what they do when neither of them can sleep.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replies. "Why wouldn't I be?"

And he shrugs, because there isn't a real answer to that question, and she rolls her eyes at him as they continue to walk.

"Nice seeing things back to normal," she remarks, and he laughs.

"Your partner, you mean?" he asks, and when she nods, he sighs.

"Yeah," he says, "Yeah, it is."

There's silence between them as they continue walking. After a moment, she takes his hand in her own, lacing her fingers through his.

* * *

A late night becomes an excuse for coffee, and all the coffee does is keep them awake, when they're dead tired and really need to be asleep. They've been taking shifts in the crib. He comes down and nods for her to go up.

"We're not going to wake her up," he says, flatly, to Munch, and Fin, who both nod in agreement, because out of the four of them, this has been hitting her the hardest, somehow.

"Where's Benson?" Cragen asks, a few hours later, as the sun starts coming up, and the city starts waking up, and the phone starts ringing.

"Sleeping," Elliot replies. "We kinda forgot to wake her up."

And the captain gives him a skeptical look, because he knows full well that none of the other men 'forgot' to do anything. It's just their way of taking care of her without her actually knowing it, though they all know she knows it anyway.

When a lead comes in, Elliot goes up to get her, and she sits up, drowsily, rubbing her eyes for a second, before looking at her watch. And when she realizes what's been done, she glowers at him.

"You were supposed to wake me up," she says, accusingly, and he shrugs.

"I forgot."

But she knows he didn't, really.

* * *

Kathleen shows up in the precinct in the middle of the day, when she knows full well that her father won't be around. But Olivia is. Somehow, the four detectives have ended up working tandem again, and Elliot and Munch are both gone, but Fin's there, and Olivia's just coming out of the captain's office.

"Kathleen," she says, upon noticing her partner's second oldest, "What are you doing here?"

"Can we talk?" comes the reply, and Olivia nods, motioning for her to follow her into an interview room, where they won't be interrupted.

"What's up?" she asks, and Kathleen looks away, almost nervously, fiddling with the watch she's wearing for a long moment, before speaking.

"I came to apologize," she says, the words tumbling out in a rush. "I just…I don't know. But I know I've been a real bitch to you ever since this crap with my parents, and I just…"

But Olivia cuts her off, a faint smile crossing her face. "I get it," she says, and is startled to find that she really does. "You don't have to apologize."

The relieved look that crosses the girl's face is hard to miss. There's silence for a moment, and then Kathleen speaks again.

"You're still planning on coming to this shower thing, right?" she asks, and Olivia laughs.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Finally, an update. Things have finally slowed down for me enough so that I'm going to have a lot of time to work on fics, which is good, because I have a lot of them going. Anyway...figured this would be the first one I updated, for now. **

* * *

June becomes July, and along with it, Kathleen's birthday. It's been two months since her arrest, and luckily, she didn't end up with a sentence of jail time. But probation is bad enough. Even so, Maureen insists on dragging her out, and Olivia comes with them.

"One more year, and you're completely legal," says Maureen, poking at her younger sibling. Kathleen swats at her.

"You're not funny," she insists. "It was a one-time thing. It'll never happen again. Scared the hell out of me."

"You two do remember that you've got a cop with you, right?" Olivia asks, dryly, and all three of them laugh.

"We know," says Kathleen, smirking. "Why d'you think we haven't done anything?"

"Oh, that's nice," says Maureen, "Even if you weren't here, Liv, any other cop would know who we were the minute we gave 'em our last name."

The two sisters exchange glances at this, and then look away. Olivia watches them, and sighs.

Even now, their last high profile case is haunting them.

* * *

The twins talk him into a game of Scrabble, and he plays, but not very well.

"You fail at life," says Elizabeth, "That isn't how you spell it."

"Yeah, 'cause you're a real genius at spelling," says Dickie, mildly. "It is, too. Add it up."

"I suck at math. You do it." comes the reply.

"Do you two ever get tired of arguing with each other?" Elliot asks, dryly, and both of them shake their heads. Elizabeth peers over her brother's arm at the scorecard.

"This game is boring; I'm out," she says, and gets to her feet. "Dad, you won."

"Nice, you two," says Elliot, "Where'd your mother go?"  
The twins exchange glances. "She's upstairs," says Dickie, and gets up to wander off after Elizabeth, who smirks.

"Don't ask, don't tell," she says, over her shoulder, and then they're gone.

* * *

They land another case on Monday. The scene is, of all places, a swimming pool.

"That's disgusting," says Olivia, shaking her head. "Heaven only knows how many kids are in and out of here every day."

"Not today," says Elliot. "After hours?"  
Melinda looks up at him and nods. "Round eleven last night," she says, "As far as I can tell, anyway."

The body is that of a girl who looks to be about sixteen. Melinda and her assistants go, leaving the two detectives standing there.

"Way to start the week," says Elliot, smirking, and Olivia swats at him.

"You're awful," she says, and then, "We've got the ID."  
He sighs. "Now comes the hard part."

* * *

The captain boots them out of the squad room, finally, a few days later. He goes across the bridge in time to see the twins off to school. Kathy is still asleep, according to them. After they're gone, he wanders upstairs, and into the bedroom.

"Hey," says Kathy, quietly, opening an eye to look at him. "The twins get off to school?"  
He nods, and pulls his shirt off, coming to lie down beside her, his hands drifting towards her stomach as he does.

"Doubt you're going to feel anything yet," she says, turning so that her head is on his shoulder.

"Maybe," he says, and she gives him an amused look.

"Wishful thinking," she tells him. He laughs, and slides an arm around her, kissing the top of her head.

"Go back to sleep."

* * *

She wanders around Manhattan, because she wants to, and because John is with her, and because it's what they do.

"You guys get anywhere yet?" he asks, and Olivia nods absently.

"We think so," she says, and then nothing. She thinks of the summer before this one and frowns.

"I don't like Oregon," she tells him, and he laughs.

"City girl at heart, I see," he says, and she leans against him as he puts an arm around her.

"You could say that," she says, and then, "I missed the squad too much to do it again."

"I see," says John, again. "Suppose it would be like me going back to Baltimore, huh?"  
Her grip on his waist tightens, then, and she shakes her head.

"Don't even think about it," she says. "You aren't leaving me."

* * *

They run an interview. An old boyfriend of their victim glares at them both.

"You ask me, she got what was comin'," he says, flatly. Elliot glares back at him.

"But you didn't do it, right?" he asks, sarcastically. "You're completely blameless, right?"

"Damn straight I didn't do nothin'. She left me a long time ago."

Elliot and Olivia exchange glances. Something's not right, and they both know it. It's never that easy. The interview becomes an interrogation; they play good cop, bad cop, same as always.

Before the morning is over, they not only have the forensics, they have a confession.

* * *

"You're getting old," he teases, after they chase down a suspect, and she has to lean against the car to catch her breath once they get him inside. They've sent their last case on, and are handling another one, and she glares at him.

"Screw you, Stabler," she says, "You're still a year older than I am. It's hot as hell out here."

He laughs. "Suppose I'm buying lunch, then?" he asks, and she smirks at him and grabs the keys from his hand.

"Damn right you are, making me run like that," she says. "And you can buy coffee in the morning, too."

They take the suspect to the precinct, where they hand him off to John and Fin before heading out again.

"So, where d'you want to go?" he asks, and she stops in her tracks, giving him a mock surprised look.

"You're actually going to let me decide?" she asks, half-seriously. "It's a miracle. You're finally relinquishing control over something."

He swats at her, but misses. "Let's not go there," he says, and gets into the car on the driver's side. "Come on, Liv, let's go already."

* * *

He chases the twins through the backyard, because they decided it'd be a good idea to upend a full bucket of ice cold water over his head when he wasn't paying attention to them.

"Serve you right," Kathy tells them, when they yell over at her. "I told you it wasn't such a good idea."

The back door opens, and out come Maureen and Kathleen, both of them looking amused.

"What'd the squirts do this time?" Maureen asks, and Kathy motions to the abandoned bucket, which has fallen over on its side.

"That explains why Dad's shirt is on the ground, then," says Kathleen, smirking as she picks it up and throws it into the house. "You two better run."

"Mom, come on!" Elizabeth yells, from the side of the house, where they've disappeared to. "Call him off already!"  
"Forget it," Kathy yells back, "You did this to yourself." She cuts herself off as she starts laughing, and Maureen and Kathleen roll their eyes, before joining in the chase as their father and younger siblings reappear.

* * *

She sings along while she fiddles around in the kitchen, because the radio's on and it's playing a song she actually likes.

"Ought to record you and play it in the squad room," says John, from the living room. "Think anyone would be able to tell it was you?"

Olivia snorts. "You do and you're a dead man," she says, as the song changes. "Last thing I want is that floating around."

"You've got a good voice," comes the reply. "Nothing to worry about. I don't think anyone would dare give you a problem about it."

"Sure they wouldn't," says Olivia, and looks at the pot on the stove, willing the water inside of it to boil, but it won't, yet.

"Any luck in there yet?" John asks, and she glares out towards where he is.

"Let's not go there," she says. "It'll be done when it's done; don't push me. What are you doing out there, anyway?"

"Paperwork," says John, and it is this that makes her stick her head out of the kitchen.

"Liar," she says, smirking at him, and she leaves the kitchen to sit beside him. "Never would've figured you for being one to organize things in ABC order."

"It was bothering me," he replies, and she laughs.

* * *

"I'm getting old," Elliot announces when he walks into the squad room, and she looks up at him and laughs.

"Now he admits it," she says, to no one in particular, and then, "What gave you this idea?"

"The fact that I've discovered that Maureen's engaged," he says. "She just turned twenty-three in January, for heaven's sake. She's got all the time in the world."

"Did she tell you, or did you happen to stumble across this fact on your own?" Olivia asks, looking amused, and Elliot gives her an accusatory look.

"You knew, didn't you?" he demands, but Olivia shakes her head, laughing as she does.

"No, but you should see your face," she says. "You look like you're about to keel over. Now answer my question."

"She told me," says Elliot, sitting at his desk. "Actually, she told Kathy, and then Kathy told me. They seemed to think it would be easier that way."

"I take it you don't think so," says Olivia, and he shakes his head.

"No," he says, "I don't. This is just…weird. I mean, there Kathy is, about to have another baby, and then there's Maureen, about to get married…When the hell did this happen?"

"When you weren't looking," says Olivia, and he laughs.

"Yeah, that's what Kathy told me."

* * *

But despite his protests, he seems to be adjusting to this quite well, something Olivia points out when it's the two of them out on the street, because they're looking for someone.

"The kid's a cop," he says, of Maureen's fiancé. "You'd think she'd have learned better than to marry a cop, for the love of heaven, she saw what happened between me and her mother…"

"And she also knows that you worked it out, and now you're about to be new parents all over again," says Olivia. "Who knows? Maybe this kid will keep out of SVU."

"You're not funny," Elliot tells her. "Unit's volunteer, anyway. This kid would have to be really used to the world or completely naïve to come in."

"So, we're used to the world, is that it?" Olivia asks, but Elliot shakes his head.

"No," he says. "We just think we are. And then something new comes along, and we're all thrown for a loop once again."

"Nice," says Olivia, smirking. He rolls his eyes at her.

"All I have to say is that this kid better not break my baby's heart, because the minute he does, he's through."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that, in case something happens to him."

"You're still not funny, Liv."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Wow. Guess I like this one better than I thought I did. There's still a while to go, so...yeah. **

* * *

July drags by slowly, and fades into August. The days are getting slightly more bearable.

"They're thinking next year," says Elliot, of Maureen, and her fiancé, who has been revealed as a uniform out of the one-nine by the name of Patrick O'Riley.

"Nice," says Olivia, "At least she'll be twenty-four by then, finished with college, maybe have an idea what she wants to do."

"I think she's more ready for this than her mother and I ever were," Elliot remarks. "She's older than we were, at least."

"Well, that's got to be some kind of relief, no?" Olivia asks, and he shrugs.

"I'm not sure yet," he admits. "You know, I almost wish I could go back in time and do it all over again."

"Or even to the future, to see how things turn out," she replies, but he shakes his head.

"Nah," he says, "I think I'd like going to the past better than moving on to the future." She gives him a sideways look.

"Would you change anything?" she asks, and he nods.

"Yeah," he says quietly, "I'd have tried to be there more."

* * *

They end up going for ice cream because it's still hot as hell, though it's starting to cool down, very, very slowly.

"Why are we doing this, again?" she asks. "I fail to see what getting ice cream has to do with this person we're supposed to be finding."

"It has nothing to do with this person we're supposed to be finding," says Elliot, "I felt like something that had sugar in it."

"So you decide to drag me in with you," says Olivia. "You just ruined the diet I was on, you know that, right?"

He gives her a startled look. "You were on a diet?" he asks, and she laughs, shaking her head.

"Knew that'd throw you," she says, and then, "No, I'm not on a diet. I really don't see the point of being on a diet."

"Especially not if you're going to slip all the time," says Elliot, smirking at her. She rolls her eyes.

"Maybe if I didn't spend most of my time with three guys who can put away more than at least a football team, it'd work," she points out. He shakes his head.

"Nah," he says, "You like to eat too much. You'd never survive on a diet."

"You calling me fat?"

"No, I'm just telling it like it is."

The next thing she knows, she's chasing him, because they're walking, but she knows she's not going to catch him, and sure enough, she doesn't.

* * *

"You'd better have the sixteenth off," she informs him, and he looks over at her.

"I've already taken care of it," he says. "Don't worry, Liv, I'm not going to wreck anything. I'll even turn my cell phone off."

"You tell John and Fin about it, or is that going to be on me?" Olivia asks, and Elliot smirks at her.

"Would've thought you'd have already told John by now," he says, and she rolls her eyes at him.

"I did," she says, remembering suddenly, "Never mind. He probably already told Fin. You think they'll show?"

"I don't see why they wouldn't," says Elliot, and then, "You know, I think it's going to mean a lot to her that you were involved in it."

"Why's that?" Olivia asks, absently, trying to concentrate on her paperwork. Elliot shrugs.

"She told me once that she didn't think you liked her," he admits. "I don't know why it bothered her, but it did. She said she didn't want you to think that she hated you, though."

"I know she doesn't hate me," says Olivia. "In earlier years, I might've thought she did, because you were always hanging around here, but now…"

"Hanging around? Is that what you call it? I happen to be quite dedicated to my job, thanks."

"True, but you don't fool me, Stabler. You're even more dedicated to your family. You're not getting out of that one."

"Why the hell would I want to?"

* * *

There's a summer recital. He doesn't know why; he doesn't see the point, but he supposes that it's one of those things he doesn't get and probably never will. In any case, the only reason he's there is because of Elizabeth, and it's the only reason why Olivia is there, too.

"I didn't know she took dance lessons," she says, in an undertone, and he looks at her and shrugs.

"She decided that was what she wanted to do after she quit piano," he says. "Actually…"  
"She was taking piano when we got that one case," she says, "What was his name, Holt?"

He makes a face at her. "Don't remind me," he says. "But yeah, that's kinda why she 'quit'."

"Knew it," says Olivia, and shakes her head. "Can't say I blame you, though."  
Elliot smirks. "Knew that was coming," he says. The lights start to go dim, signifying the beginning of the recital; Kathy returns from wherever it was that she'd gone, and silence falls between the three of them.

Music starts, breaking through the sudden darkness, and then the lights come back on, and there's Elizabeth, grinning at them from the stage.

* * *

August seems a lot longer than July does, even though they have the same number of days.

"It's probably because next month, a new season starts," says Olivia, to Elliot, who isn't really paying attention to her, but he nods anyway.

"Nah, it's just long, because it's still hot as hell outside," he says. "It'll all be over soon enough, and then we'll be freezing."

He takes the coffee off of her desk and takes a sip from it before handing it back. She gives him a look.

"I already bought you coffee," she says, "Don't start drinking mine."

"Mine's gone," he replies, and then, "Thanks, Liv."

She kicks his foot under the desks. "Don't 'thanks, Liv' me," she says. "If you want coffee, there's some in the pot over there."

"I noticed," says Elliot, and gets to his feet to start walking over, before pausing and turning to look at her again. "Who made it?"

"Fin did," Olivia replies, rolling her eyes. "And you know, Munch isn't really that bad at making coffee."

"I take this to mean you've been at his place in the morning."

"Don't ask, don't tell."

* * *

She kicks him out of the squad room a few days later, because it's his anniversary, and he needs to go home. She's gone behind his back to get the captain to agree with it, and so he leaves, rolling his eyes at her as he does.

When he gets home, Kathleen's just leaving for work, having talked Maureen into driving her. The twins have been poked into a game of kickball in the street, which is constantly being interrupted by traffic.

"I wish they wouldn't play in the street," he remarks, to Kathy, who stands in the kitchen, finishing what's left of the breakfast dishes. He takes a bowl from her and gently pushes her towards the table. "Let me finish these."

She goes to sit. "What are you doing home so early?" she asks. "It's the middle of the morning. Did something go wrong?"

He shakes his head at her. "Nothing's wrong," he says. "Liv just kicked me out of the squad room."

"Why's that?"

"Twenty-three years," he says, and she looks at him, startled.

"You remembered," she says, and he grins at her.

"What made you think I'd forget?"

* * *

At the beginning of September, John decides it'll be a good idea to take Olivia to Baltimore with him, so they go. And he can tell she's nervous by the time they get there, so he shakes his head at her.

"I still don't see why you're so skittish," he says, "It's not like they're gonna hate you."

She gives him a look. "Why can't you be normal for once and balk about introducing me to your 'family'?"

"Because they're all cops, and they're probably not going really going to care. Come on, Liv, it won't be that bad."

And it isn't. When the first shift gets off, they all meet up at the Waterfront, which is miraculously still open. Before the night is over, she knows all the murder police, from Bolander to Pembleton, both of whom are retired, to Meldrick and Kay, who are both lieutenants of the shifts.

They end up crashing at the home of his two best friends from high school, sisters, one who's a prosecutor, and the other who works from the home.

"You were right," she says, quietly, as she lies there on her back, with her head on his shoulder. "It wasn't so bad."

* * *

School's started, but the four of them get up and go for a run anyway, because their parents are still asleep, and they know they'll be back before either of them are awake. The sky's just starting to lighten, and there's silence between them until Maureen speaks.

"Who'd have thought?" she says, and doesn't have to elaborate, because she knows that the others know what she means.

"It's too early to have this conversation," says Elizabeth, yawning. "Couldn't it wait till after school or something?"

"I don't know what you're complaining for; now you get the chance to be an older sibling," says Kathleen.

"Yeah, but it's just weird. I mean, when this kid's going into high school, Liz and I are going to be like, twenty-eight or so," says Dickie. "You can't tell me that's not weird."

"Sure it's weird, but it's not like this kid's gonna just disappear," Maureen says dryly. "We're gonna have to get used to it."

"Well, if nothing else good comes out of it, at least Mom and Dad are working things out," says Kathleen, mildly, "Never thought I'd see the day."

"Hey, that reminds me," says Elizabeth suddenly, "Did we ever decide what we're getting Mom for this baby shower we're supposedly putting on?"

They stop in their tracks and exchange glances.

"Um, no," says Dickie, finally, before they start to go again. "I don't think we did."

Maureen shakes her head. "Guess we'd better figure it out."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Don't ask about the first part...it was really one of those random things that came out of nowhere...as for the other parts, well...they're random too. **

* * *

They figure it out. And at school, the taunts come, because of the case, because everyone's been gone, but they all heard about it, because New York's news is everyone's news, and it seems that all anyone wants to do is piss them off.

So Dickie gets into a fight, and Elizabeth tells someone off, and the two of them get hauled into the office, not that they really care, because it's their family people are talking about and they're not about to just sit there.

It's only when their parents show up that they start to feel guilty. The ride home is quiet. Their mother goes inside, but their father keeps them in the car with him.

"Why'd you do it?" he asks, and the twins exchange glances, because both of them have an answer, and at the same time, neither of them know what to say.

"Don't know," says Elizabeth, finally, when her brother says nothing. "Guess we finally got tired of people talking crap."

"Violence isn't an answer."

"I'm not the one who decked somebody."

Elliot gives her a look, but says nothing, and instead waves them off, so they get out of the car and go inside, but they know they're probably gonna hear it later.

"Think it was worth it?" Dickie asks, once they're sprawled out over Elizabeth's room, because they've gotten a three-day suspension, and won't have to go back until Monday.

Elizabeth shrugs. "Don't know," she says, again, but at the same time, she does, and she knows it, and knows that he does, too.

* * *

"People have issues," Kathleen mutters, as she comes walking into Maureen's dorm room, because somehow, she made it from her work to there by walking. It isn't really that far, but it's still a walk.

"Tell me about it," says Maureen, sitting on her laptop with one screen open in which she's doing research and another open with IM. "The twins told me they just got a three-day."

"Nice," Kathleen says dryly. "Bet Mom and Dad were thrilled."

"They're supposedly grounded, which means Mom and Dad probably aren't home, because they're on the computer."

"I'm gonna laugh if they get nailed." Kathleen comes to sit beside her older sibling on the floor and reaches for a few Skittles in the bowl between them. "They say how long their sentence is?"

"Two weeks," says Maureen. "Luckily, they'll be on parole before the shower; I'd have to kill them if they weren't."

It hits the two sisters then that they're using terms a cop might use, and they laugh about it, because it's amusing, and after a while, Maureen signs off IM, and glances at her younger sister.

"Want me to take you home?"

* * *

Olivia finds herself caught between two different worlds, and also finds that she kind of likes it, because things aren't as weird as they were before.

"It's kind of strange," she says, to Elliot, when he comes back to the precinct. "I used to think I'd never be able to balance a personal life with my precinct life."

He laughs at her. "Other than the fact that half your personal life is at the same time part of your precinct life, I'd have to say that you're doing pretty damn good, Liv."

"So, what happened to the twins? Or do you not want to go there?" she asks, and he sighs.

"I think I'm rubbing off on them," he says, and shakes his head. "Dickie got into a fight, Lizzie got into a shouting match with one of her friends, and then with a teacher…three-day suspensions."

"Over what?" Olivia asks, startled, because she knows her partner's son got suspended the year before, but as far as she knows, his youngest daughter's never had that happen.

"The last case," Elliot says, without looking at her. "About the DUI and such…I don't really know. They didn't tell me much of anything."

Olivia shakes her head. "High school sucks sometimes," she says. "Everyone's gone over the summer and then they all come back, and everything bad that happened comes into the light."

"I wish they could've found some other way to deal with it."

"Well, they are your kids."

"Let's not go there."

* * *

But the three days pass a lot faster than anyone would've thought they did, and it's forgotten, other than the fact that the twins are still grounded, and currently involved in making up what they missed, along with everything they've gotten.

"You two," says Kathy, from where she stands in the kitchen, watching them do homework as she loads the dishwasher. "Why do I get the feeling you're up to something?"

"Because Dad's not around to think we're up to something," says Elizabeth, and bites her lip to keep from laughing.

"He doesn't have to think you're up to something, he usually knows," Kathy says dryly. "Your homework done yet?"

"No. We're drawing it out as long as possible so we actually have something to do until you and Dad let us off on parole," Dickie replies.

"That sentence is going to get extended if you don't watch it," Kathy tells him, but she's smirking faintly, so they doubt she really means it. "Hurry up and finish whatever you're doing. I need you to set the table."

"So we're actually eating as a family for once," says Elizabeth. "Nice."

Kathy gives her a look. "You're not funny," she says. "Finish that and then take your stuff upstairs and get back down here."

So they finish, and take their work upstairs, where they drop it all in Dickie's room, because that's where they'll probably finish it later.

"Think she knows?" Elizabeth asks, and her brother swats at her.

"She's gonna know if you open your mouth anymore than you already have."

* * *

Life is such that with the new season beginning, things start to cool down, finally, leaving Elliot and Olivia actually wanting to walk in order to find the latest person they're looking for.

"I hate the summers in this place," Olivia remarks. "They're too damn hot for their own good."

"No wonder everything happens in the summer," Elliot says dryly. "People get irritated too easily."

Olivia laughs at this, and shakes her head. "And some people get irritated too easily when it's cold. Never ends."

"Well, something's got to give us a job."

"Sometimes I think we have too much of a job."

And there is silence between them for a long moment, until Olivia gives her partner a sideways look and speaks again.

"Baby shower's in a few days," she remarks, and he grins at her.

"I know," he says. "The kids are starting to find it hard not to talk about it. The twins are just looking forward to it because they're off grounding by then, but there you have it."

Olivia shakes her head again. "Yeah, they're definitely yours," she says. "They remind me of you when you're on desk duty."

Elliot looks at her for a long moment, and shakes his head as he laughs.

* * *

She drags the guys out with her, because she can, and because they need a life other than the squad room, she tells them, parroting their remark from when they shoved her out to go for coffee with Casey.

Now the four of them sit together in a place near the precinct, because they're all in need of a caffeine fix, and this is where they can find one.

"Captain's gonna be thrilled when we get back to the precinct all hopped up on this stuff," Elliot remarks, finishing off what's got to be at least his third cup of coffee.

"Shouldn't have brought you lot here," says Olivia, from where she sits, beside John, who gives her an amused look.

"At least we're not sitting in the squad room anymore, honestly, that place is starting to get on my last nerve."

They've been there for the past couple of days, on and off, because one takes a break at a time, and Elliot's just come back from Queens, obviously annoyed by the fact that he had to leave home.

"You lot are coming, aren't you?" he says, to John and Fin. "On the 16th?"

"Don't see why not," says John, and Fin nods, silently, in agreement.

She can't help but think right then that it's just like it used to be, and at the same time, she knows it isn't anywhere close.

* * *

It rains on the 16th. Maureen goes sliding into the kitchen on sock feet that morning, because Kathy's taken the twins to their latest dentist's appointment, something they balked at, but only for a moment.

"I gotta go pick up a few things," she says, to Kathleen, who's taken the day off from work, "You want anything while I'm out?"

"Coke would be nice," Kathleen says, smirking at her older sister, and Maureen shakes her head, smirking back.

"I do not live to feed your drug habit, Kat," she says, and both of them burst into sudden laughter. "I'll get you your soda, then. Anything else?"

"No, that's about it. I'll finish up here." Kathleen replies, and Maureen tugs on a pair of shoes, and grabs her keys before taking off. The phone rings as the door slams behind her. Kathleen reaches for it.

"Your mother out of the house yet?"

"And it's nice to hear from you too. Mom took the twins to the dentist. They left about twenty minutes ago."

"We'll probably be there in about half an hour, maybe 45 minutes. We're on the bridge right now. You need us to grab anything?"  
"Maureen just left to do that. Everything else is taken care of, but thanks."

"All right then…we'll see you when we get there. Anyone else coming?"

"Couple of Mom's friends from the hospital. I'm not really sure; Maureen set that up."

"All right. I gotta go before Olivia decides to take over driving. Love you."

"Love you, too."

* * *

It goes well. By the time everyone leaves and evening comes, things are a mess, but the four of them shoo their parents out of the house anyway.

"You two go find something to do," they say, "We'll take care of this." And so they leave, because their kids are watching them, intently, and they know that they won't break staring contact until they go away.

"I can't believe they kept it a secret for so long," Kathy remarks, as they walk, because they haven't done anything like that in a while. "You'd have thought they'd slip."

"They did," says Elliot, "You just never caught them, and therefore couldn't drill them on it."

"You lot will never cease to amaze me, I swear," says Kathy, "And I suppose the other three had a hand in it, too."

"Olivia did," Elliot replies. "I figure the girls decided it'd be a good idea. Munch and Fin kinda just came along for the ride."

Kathy laughs. "That sounds like them," she says, and then, "How's Olivia doing, anyway? I didn't really have a chance to talk to her."

"She's good," says Elliot, "As far as Fin and I know, anyway. Munch won't tell us anything, and she hasn't threatened to kick his ass yet, so I suppose they're doing all right."

They continue walking. He slides an arm around her waist as they do, and looks at his watch.

"You think we should go see if they've managed to blow up the house yet?"

* * *

September fades into October. The days are getting shorter now, and colder. Daylight Savings Time prompts a conversation in the squad room.

"If I have to hear one more of your crackpot theories, I swear…" says Olivia, but John ignores her.

"I don't see the point," he says. "It's not like the day's really getting any shorter. There are still twenty-four hours."

"They're trying to give us light during the day, so it's not dark all the time," says Elliot, and then, "Technically, if you think about it, in this line of the work, it is dark all the time, but there you have it."

"Winter's the second worst season in this city anyway," says Fin, "Makes sense they'd want to give us something to keep us from wanting to off ourselves."

"There, you see?" says Olivia, throwing a wadded-up paper ball at John, "Not everything the government does is bad."

"I never said it was; I just said it didn't make sense to me. Forgive me for not thinking the way you do."

"You sure you don't have one of those tinfoil hats hidden in your desk somewhere?" Elliot asks mildly. John rolls his eyes.

"No, but you're perfectly welcome to look."

* * *

She finds him with bloody knuckles after this latest case they've managed to break. The silence in the crib lingers, until he finally speaks.

"One of these days, I'm gonna have to find something better to do," he remarks, and she shakes her head at him.

"One of these days, one of us is gonna leave," she says, but he shakes his head back at her.

"Won't be me," he says, but doesn't sound all that convinced. She comes to sit beside him, holding a first aid kit, which she opens, balancing it in her lap as she grabs his hands.

"Won't be me, either," she says. "Guess I'm finally used to this place."

He gives her a startled look, but she goes on. "I didn't say I was used to the crimes, Elliot. Just…this place."

"I suppose there's a difference now?" he asks dryly, and she nods.

"Yeah, there's a difference. I'm here more than I am in my own apartment, of course I'm gonna be used to the precinct."

"And to having a life out of the squad room?"  
"If you can call it a life."

"You have someone to go home to, don't you?"

"Yeah, if he leaves the precinct before I do."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I'm debating another story following this one, so...yeah. **

* * *

The kids are all asleep when he gets home, which he isn't all too surprised by, given the fact that it's late, and a school night. But Kathy's awake, and in the kitchen, doing dishes, because somehow, the three that remain at home got away without doing it.

"You know, I ought to go drag those three out of bed and make them do this," Elliot remarks, but she shakes her head at him.

"What happened to your hands?" she asks. He sighs.

"Got into a fight with the lockers," he replies, "It's nothing that serious. You want me to dry?"

"If you would," says Kathy, and reaches out to turn the radio on. "It's too quiet with the kids asleep."

"And it's too loud with them awake." Elliot walks over and takes the dishtowel off the counter and reaches for one of the bowls waiting for him. "Soon both of us won't be sleeping at all."

"Don't remind me," says Kathy, but she looks amused, and she hands him a plate. "I love how they put off playing all the old songs until late at night."

"Yeah, what's up with that, anyway?" Elliot asks, momentarily distracted by the song that's started to play. Abandoning the dishes, he holds out a hand to her.

"Want to dance?"

* * *

The song hits her for some reason. She saw the movie with the kids of a friend of hers, because somehow, the two of them had gotten roped into it, but the song has never really hit her until now.

She knows it, so she sings along, and doesn't notice that John's watching her, until he pokes at her.

"Penny for your thoughts?" he asks, when she falls silent and reaches out to restart the song.

"I was just thinking about the lyrics," she admits. "How they seem to fit."

"Fit what? This so-called relationship of ours?" he asks in reply, and she swats at him.

"It's a relationship," she tells him, "Nothing more, nothing less. Just…you and me."

"Never figured you for sentimental, Liv," John remarks, and she rolls her eyes at him.

"It happens every now and then," she says. "Might as well get used to it while you can."

He laughs. "I think I already have."

* * *

He brings coffee to the squad room in the morning, because somewhere along the line it became mutually agreed between the four of them that one of them would bring it every morning, and it's fallen on his turn again.

"And here I was thinking you'd forget," says Olivia, taking hers and passing the cup holder across the aisle to where John and Fin are. Elliot rolls his eyes.

"I know better than to deny any of you three caffeine by now, particularly you," he says. "Therefore, I remembered coffee. We have anything this morning?"

"Paperwork," says Olivia, "Our last case went to court, Munch and Fin's is going to court…Oh, and Casey might be calling on one of us at some point."

"Nice," says Elliot dryly, "Just what we need, another day in court. I swear I've had enough of court to last me a damn lifetime."

"Well, guess you're going to have to find another lifetime, then," says Olivia, smirking at him, "Court's part of the job."

"I noticed," says Elliot, dryly. "You feel like flipping a coin?"

"Forget it, Stabler, don't think I didn't see you cheat the last time we did that."  
"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I'm sure you don't."  
There is silence between the two of them for a long moment, and then Munch speaks.

"Well, you could always draw straws."

* * *

So they do. And Olivia ends up drawing the short straw, and because of this, she goes to court, and afterwards, out with Casey.

"So, how's life treating you, other than the obvious?" Casey asks, and Olivia laughs.

"Could be better, could be worse…suppose you could say I'm surviving," she says. "Of course, I'd hardly say the guys are helping, but there you have it."

"Do they ever help?" Casey asks dryly, and Olivia shakes her head, looking amused.

"They do sometimes; today they were just being a pain because none of them felt like coming into court."

"Figures. They never want to come in."

"You do have to admit it's a pain sometimes. Defense attorneys…well, I won't go there. Don't want it to look weird if something were to happen to one of them."

Silence, and then both women laugh. "That's lovely, Liv," says Casey, "But don't worry. I'll pretend I didn't hear that."

"So, what's up with you and Lake?" Olivia asks, and Casey looks away, trying and failing to hide the faint red that's come over her face.

"I don't know yet," she says, of the new SVU detective, "Guess I'll just have to figure it out."

Olivia glances at her for a long moment, and then speaks again. "Don't worry," she says, "You will."

* * *

There's a card on his desk on his birthday, and he pushes at her foot under their desks.

"You remembered," he says, sounding amused by it, and she rolls her eyes at him.

"We've been partners for what, nine years now?" she asks. "Of course I remembered. Now open it already."

He does, and laughs at the message inside. "Nice, Liv," he says, and something else catches his eye. He reaches for it. A gift certificate. He looks up at her again. "You didn't have to do this."

"Sure I did," she says, "And before you say it, I'd do it for John and Fin, too, so let's not go there."

"Well…thanks," he tells her, and she grins at him, leaning back in her seat.

"Figured I'd give you something, can't just let the day pass by," she says. "You should let the kids come crash with me, and take Kathy to do something."

"You think?" he asks, in reply, and she nods.

"Yeah, I think," she says, "Skip out an hour early or so. I'll cover for you."

There's silence between them for a long moment, and then he shakes his head at her.

"Thanks, Liv," he says, again, and she leans forward again, smirking.

"What else are partners for?"

* * *

And when her partner's kids show up at her apartment that night, all of them, including Maureen, she isn't surprised.

"Hey, you lot," she says, "Looks like you're stuck with me for the night." She moves so that they can come in and closes the door behind them.

"We brought cards," says Elizabeth, smirking at her, and Olivia rolls her eyes.

"Forget it," she says, only half-serious, "I still remember what happened the last time we played cards."

"Well, we brought ice cream and such, too," says Maureen, holding up a bag. "Figured we'd play cards, watch movies, whatever…"

A typical night at home. She feels suddenly as if she's found exactly what she's looking for, and nods.

"Sounds good," she says, "I've got movies and such, if you wanna look through them."

They wander to the living room, all five of them, and Maureen and Kathleen go to look through the movies, while the twins start a card game, and Olivia sits and watches them, looking amused.

"Hey, you lot, what about this one?" says Maureen finally, and the debate over what to watch begins.

A little while later, they've decided on one, and the lights go off, and the ice cream comes out, and the five of them sit and laugh.

* * *

They wander. Somewhere along the line they started walking with each other again, and this is one of those times.

"It's starting to get cold out here…finally…" Kathy remarks, trailing off. "One more winter to deal with."

"It's still fall," Elliot points out, and takes off his jacket, putting it on her shoulders. "Here, put that on."

She does. "You sure Olivia didn't mind having the kids over?" she asks, and he shakes his head.

"It was her idea," he says. "I told her before I left that she was in for it, but we'll see."

Kathy laughs. "Hope they don't scare her off," she says, dryly. Elliot rolls his eyes.

"Well, they haven't managed it yet, I doubt it'll happen anytime soon," he says. "You still cold?"  
She shakes her head. "Nah, it's better now." She tugs his jacket closer around her and looks sideways at the watch on his wrist.

"Think we should go liberate your partner yet?"

"Nah. Let her keep 'em. Let's go home."

* * *

He grows skittish when October fades into November, and she knows why. So she ignores it half the time, and the other half, she tries to make him relax.

"I'm pretty sure she's gonna call you when it happens," she tells him, "Calm down already. Just keep your cell phone on."

"Yeah, well…" Elliot trails off, and sighs. "It's funny how something like this can just change a person, isn't it?"

"Considering the fact that it's you?" Olivia asks dryly. "Yeah, it's pretty funny. Granted, you're not exactly levelheaded, but there you have it."

"Let's not go there." Elliot glances at his cell phone again, but it hasn't rung, and there are no new voicemails. He sighs again.

"You think this guy's ever going to show?" he asks. Olivia shrugs.

"Well, if he knows we're here and he goes to the back, John and Fin will nail him, so I don't see him escaping unless he becomes a jumper," she says. "Let it go, El. You'll go home soon enough."

She's reminded suddenly as she watches him for a moment longer of the way he was in earlier years, when staying at the precinct longer than he had to was something he avoided as much as possible. It's becoming that way, something that amuses and relieves her at the same time.

"I think you know me too well," he says, breaking into her thoughts and she laughs.

"I haven't put up with you and your issues for the past nine years so you'd stay a stranger to me, thanks," she says. He laughs.

* * *

November brings heavy coats and hats, because temperatures are dropping past the comfort zone once again.

"I hate the cold," says Elliot, handing Olivia a cup of coffee as they stand outside at their latest scene. "What've we got?"

"A body," says Olivia, dryly, taking a sip from the cup. "How's Kathy doing?"  
"Trying to keep herself busy. I don't think she likes maternity leave much." comes the reply. "Medical examiner say anything yet?"

Olivia shakes her head. "Other than an estimated time of death, no," she says. "This is why men can't have kids, y'know."

"Who found her?" Elliot asks, and then, "Yeah, really. If I had to take a few months off, I'd probably shoot myself."

"Well, that'd leave Kathy with five kids and no husband; what good would you be then?" Olivia asks in reply. "Uniforms already took them down to the precinct to talk to Munch and Fin. They'll fill us in when we get there."  
"I'm not really gonna shoot myself, Liv," Elliot says dryly, "It's just an expression. CSU tell you anything yet?"

"They're working on it." Olivia takes another sip of her coffee and goes on. "Your kids think we should hang out again sometime."

"Guess you weren't as in for it as I thought you were; I heard the same thing." Elliot looks at his watch and sighs. "You think anyone around here saw anything?"

"Always worth asking."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: One more chapter, and I think there might be another one after this, but don't hold me to it. **

* * *

He keeps an eye on the phone when they're in the squad room.

"El, it's still barely November," says Olivia, "Quit worrying."

"You know what? You can tell me that when you have a kid," comes the reply, and rather than getting offended, Olivia rolls her eyes.

"Don't be a pill," she tells him, "Otherwise, I'll let you put up with Casey today."

"Empty threat, Liv," says Elliot, still watching the phone. She smirks at him.

"Staring isn't going to make it ring," she tells him.

"I know that," he replies. "I don't remember being this nervous before."

"Fourteen years is a long time," says Olivia. Elliot sighs and finally starts his paperwork.

"Guess you never really get used to the wait."

* * *

Later that night, she lies sprawled out on the floor of Casey's apartment.

"You ever think about having a baby?" she asks, and Casey stares at her.

"You can't be that drunk," she says. Olivia laughs.

"I'm not. I was just thinking out loud." she says. "Have you?"

Casey shrugs. "Couple of times, but then I wonder what the point is." She trails off, and then goes on, blushing. "Asked Lake what he thought about it."  
Olivia smirks. "What'd he have to say?"  
"He said someday," Casey admits. "I don't know how that'll work."  
"You two getting serious?" Olivia asks, and Casey shrugs.

"I don't know," she says. "I'm hoping, but I guess you never know."

"The trouble with love," says Olivia, and Casey laughs.

* * *

"Wish you'd let me help with those."

He's on call, but not on duty, and so he's home, and carrying groceries. He eyes Kathy over one of the bags and shakes his head.

"Forget it," he says. "Let me worry about it."

She rolls her eyes at him. "Overprotective," she tells him. He shakes his head again.

"I think not. Just relax; I've got this." he says. She goes to sit.

"This is going to be weird," she remarks, hands on her stomach. They've decided they don't want to know what this one will be until it comes.

"We've done it before," says Elliot, looking amused, "It won't be that weird."

There's silence between them for a long moment, and then he goes on.

"We'll have to figure out rooms again," he says, and Kathy laughs.

"I forgot all about that."

* * *

"Sometimes I really wish we could actually notice the changes in the seasons, other than the fact that one day it's cold and one day it's not."  
"Nice, Liv. Anything else you wanna add, or is that it for now?"

"Bite me, Stabler."  
They've run from the precinct to the car, because it's cold outside and neither of them like it, and now he's driving, and she's talking about such things about noticing the change in seasons.

"Suppose you could always move upstate, if you really wanted to notice," he says. "Somewhere that isn't the city."

Olivia shakes her head. "Nah. I'm too much of a city girl, according to John. I don't think I'd survive upstate."

"Would you survive in Baltimore?" Elliot asks, smirking.

"Maryland's biggest city, isn't it?" Olivia asks in reply, and then, "Yeah, I suppose I could, if it came to that."

"You talk about it?"

"Not yet. I'm not sure it'll ever come to that, but it could."

"You think it's moving too fast?"

"No." Olivia trails off for a moment, and sighs. "I think…I might finally be used to it."

"Used to what?" Elliot asks, turning as the light goes green. Olivia looks at him and offers up a faint smile.

"A normal relationship."

* * *

"Casey's seeing Lake," says Elliot, and Olivia rolls her eyes.

"I know," she says. "I've known that for a while." She pauses, and then notices he's looking at her. "Don't give me that look."

"You knew, and you didn't say anything?" he asks. She rolls her eyes at him again.

"Forgive me for not wanting to gossip," she says. "I swear, you guys are a lot worse than I am."

"Are we now?" says Elliot, and takes a handful of M&M's from her desk as he walks by.

"Hey, you, those are mine," says Olivia, pretending to be annoyed. He smirks and pops one into his mouth.

"Mine now," he says. She laughs.

"Real mature, Stabler," she says. "Next time ask. I might be more willing to hand 'em over."

"Liv, they're chocolate. I have never, in these past nine years, known you to willingly hand over chocolate."

"Don't make me come over there."  
"What're you going to do, throw a paper clip at me?"

She kicks his foot under the desk, and laughs at the mock-affronted look he gives her.

"That hurt, Liv," he says, half-seriously, but all it does is make her laugh harder.

"Yeah, right."

* * *

"Candid camera," he says, and snaps a picture before she can stop him.

"I'm going to smack you," she says. He laughs.

"Love you too, Liv," he says. "Look, it didn't turn out so bad."

"I'm still going to smack you." But she looks anyway. "Wow. Guess I don't look as bad as I thought."  
"Ought to send this to Munch," Elliot remarks. Olivia laughs.

"Do it; I wanna see his face when he sees it," she says.

"Maybe I will," says Elliot and then, "Whatever you're thinking about doing, don't."

"Don't worry," says Elizabeth, "We weren't thinking about doing anything."

"Hey, you two, come set the table!" says Kathy, from the kitchen, because it's one of those days where they're all going to eat together if it kills them. The twins disappear.

"Where is Munch, anyway?" Elliot asks, and Olivia shrugs.

"He took some time off to go to Baltimore, but you'd already asked me over, so I stayed."

"You could've gone."  
"Well, I felt like staying home for once."

* * *

November drags on. All it does is make Elliot more skittish.

"Is it sad how I'm counting down already?" he asks, and she shakes her head.

"No," she says, and then, "You've already proven yourself as a father. Quit worrying. You'll be fine."

"I know. I just…wow," he says, and chuckles softly, shaking his head. "I didn't think this would happen."

"Do we need another talk about the birds and the bees, Elliot?" she asks. He swats at her.

"I think I learned that one a while ago, thanks," he says. "I've got one about to be married, for heaven's sake."

Olivia laughs. "Both ends of the scale," she says. "You really are a piece of work."  
"And you have room to talk, why?" Elliot asks.

"I'm not the one with rage issues."

"We're not going there."

She throws a paper clip at him. He throws a pen back at her.

"Squad room fever," she says. He smirks.

"Let's go get coffee," he says. She nods, and they leave.

* * *

"For the record: anything the three of you decide to say, I can hear. I have a wire."

It's a warning she gives them every time they have to do some undercover stunt, and it's laughter that always comes back.

"Don't worry, Liv, you know we love you," says Elliot. She rolls her eyes, and tugs at the skirt she's been talked into.

"If you really loved me, any one of you three, you'd be the one standing out here in a damn skirt," she replies. More laughter.

"Nah, I think you got it, Liv," says Fin.

"I hear one comment from you about any of this later on, you're all dead, got it?" Olivia asks in reply, and again, there's laughter.

"Wouldn't dream of commenting, Liv," says John. Olivia rolls her eyes, in the general direction of where she knows all three guys are.

"Sure you wouldn't," she says. "Every one of you owes me coffee after this, you hear me?"  
A general agreement comes over the wire, and she smirks. "Bunch of pushovers," she mutters, out of the corner of her mouth, so no one will really notice she's talking. Something catches her attention, from the corner of her eye, and she goes towards it. Once she realizes it's a person, she runs.

Later on, while she sits in the squad room, she takes off her shoes, and kicks the heels away from her, because they're the biggest pain in the ass she's ever known.

"Pain in the foot, more like," says John, and she jumps, before turning to face him.

"Did I say that out loud?" she asks, and he laughs.

"Yeah, you did," he says, and hands her a cup. "This is for you."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Mind you, the end of this is pure speculation. I know nothing about the next season, or the baby, or anything else, and there you have it. **

* * *

"So this is life," he says, and she laughs at him.

"Life is a case of its own," she tells him. "Nice to have a break every now and then."

"Speaking of breaks," says Elliot, "What's up with you and Munch? Everything all right?"

"Everything's fine," says Olivia, "I'm sure you'd have heard from Fin by now if it wasn't."

"The whole squad would want blood," Elliot replies. Olivia shakes her head.

"Who says I'd let you take it?" she asks, and he gives her a sideways look.

"I wouldn't take it if you didn't want me to," he tells her. She rolls her eyes.

"Sure you wouldn't," she says, and swats at his hand. "Quit eating my food."

"Well, you aren't," he points out. She rolls her eyes at him again.

"Doesn't mean I'm not going to," she says, and he smirks.

"Sure it does."

* * *

"Come on, that's lame." Maureen's friends have discovered an old, random video blog, and are now poking at her.

"Has he?" one of them asks, and she rolls her eyes.

"Um, no," she replies, "Notice how he's got a ring on his finger."

Her friend shrugs. "Doesn't necessarily mean anything. Lots of guys don't take it seriously," she says.

"Yeah, like your last boyfriend?" Maureen asks dryly. Her friend rolls her eyes.

"Come on, Maureen, it's not like the rumor hasn't been going around for a while. Who's to say he'd say if there was any truth to it or not?"  
"Pretty sure he's not going to lie to my mother about that," Maureen says, in a way that signifies the conversation is over. "Turn that crap off."

The video blog disappears, and Maureen's friend rolls onto her back on the floor of the dorm room. "Music?" she asks, and Maureen nods. A few seconds later, a favorite song of theirs comes on.

"I didn't mean to upset you," her friend says, and Maureen rolls her eyes.

"You didn't, really," she says, "I'm just tired of everyone talking crap, y'know?"

Her friend nods. "Yeah, I get it." A pause, and then, "I know your dad wouldn't. From the way you talk about him…you can just tell, y'know?"  
Maureen laughs. "Yeah, really," she says. "Our family's about as straight laced as they come…" She pauses and then sighs. "But everyone comes undone once in a while."

* * *

November slowly starts coming to an end. Thanksgiving comes, and finds the squad in Queens.

"Hey, you lot, none of that!" Elliot says loudly, to the twins, who've started a minor argument over a game they're playing. He turns to the other detectives and shakes his head. "I swear, it gets worse the older they get."

"Well, you've got eighteen more years of it to look forward to," Olivia says dryly. "Nice going."

"Hey, you know what, we're not going there," says Elliot. "You wait until you have kids."

"You hear that, John?" Olivia says, smirking, "We should wait till we have kids. Then we can talk."

"Who says that's going to happen?" John asks in reply, only half-serious, and all of them laugh.

"One of these days, you're gonna be knocked on your ass by something like that, and I'm gonna laugh," says Casey, who's dragged Lake along with her.

"Yeah, we'll see," says Fin, "I should live to see the day anyone wants to get stuck with him for eighteen years."

"You've only got ten years left to go, then," John retorts. "Think you can manage?"

"I'll go back to Narcotics before I set any records with you," says Fin. More laughter.

This is the way it's supposed to be, Olivia thinks, friends and family all together, all at once…a vacation from the every day lives they lead.

She wanders into the kitchen, where Kathy is, finishing up whatever it was that she'd been doing.

"You need any help in here?" she asks, and the other woman glances over at her, and nods.

"If you wouldn't mind," she says, and Olivia comes over to the counter, shaking her head.

"No, it's fine," she says. "We'll get done faster this way."

* * *

Later, the kids wander off to wherever it is that they've decided to go, leaving the adults in various places around the main floor of the house.

"We should do this more often," says Elliot, from the kitchen. Kathy rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, if you plan on cleaning up every time it happens," she replies. "You can forget it if you think I'm doing it on my own."

"That's what we have kids for."

"Oh, that's nice, Elliot. Ought to call ACS on you," says Olivia, shaking her head as an amused look crosses her face.

"Hey, you gotta teach 'em responsibility at one point or another," comes the reply. "Casey, you'd defend me if she took it to ACS, wouldn't you?"

"Depends on the charges," says Casey, from the floor, where she leans back against Lake's knees. "Misdemeanor, maybe. Felony, forget it."

"Nice, Casey," says Olivia. "Guess you're on your own, then, Elliot."

"Yeah, I love you both, too." Elliot replies, and comes out of the kitchen. "I think the rest of it can wait for now."

"Don't think you're leaving without helping me finish in the morning," says Kathy.

"I'm sure he wouldn't dream of it," says John, smirking. Olivia rolls her eyes.

"Think again," she says. "How d'you think I get stuck with all that paperwork?"

"Knew one of us was putting it off," says Elliot, and Olivia shakes her head, throwing a pillow at him.

"Yeah, you," she says. "You can ask anyone in the squad room. Mine's always done on time."

"Why are we having this argument now, anyway?" John asks. "Isn't Thanksgiving supposed to be a time of peace, or whatever?"

"I think the government's finally gotten to you," says Casey, and laughter fills the room.

* * *

December fades in, slowly, and all it does is make Elliot more skittish. He watches the phone more often than not, and always has his cell phone in his hand when they leave the squad room.

"Is it sad how I'm already counting down on this?" he asks, and she shakes her head.

"No," she says, "I'd probably be counting down, too. Of course, I'd be the one having the kid, so it'd be more of my wanting the kid to be out of me already."

"Lovely, Liv," says Elliot dryly, and then, "I'm gonna love seeing how any kid of yours turns out."

"I'm running out of time," says Olivia, mildly. "You might never get to see that. Of course, I'd be hard pressed to find a good reason to let any kid of mine around you."

"Hey, I resent that," Elliot tells her, "I'm not that bad. There are worse people a child could be around."

"True," says Olivia, "But I'd still be hard pressed. You'd have to impress me in a rather profound way for me to want my kid to be around you."

"Putting up with you for nine years hasn't done it?"

"Excuse me, I'm the one that's put up with you for nine years. You're the longest relationship I've ever had with a guy, remember?"

"Well, you have a relationship with Munch now, if I do recall correctly," says Elliot and Olivia laughs.

"All of a few months," she says.

"But it's something," Elliot points out, and Olivia shrugs.

"Would you tell me it was wrong if I told you I wanted something like what you have?" she asks. "Something that could last forever?"

"I don't think anything lasts forever, Liv."

"All right, then, twenty years or longer."

There is a long pause between them, and then Elliot speaks. "No," he says. "No, I wouldn't tell you it was wrong."

* * *

Life is, she thinks, just perfect right about now. Somehow, she's gotten talked into ice skating, by Casey, who told her to bring John, and somehow, Lake ended up on the outing, too.

"Nice move, Casey," Olivia says dryly, as they skate, away from the guys, who've ended up in some sort of debate. "Next time we should bring Elliot and Kathy, you think?"

"Maybe Fin and whoever he's dating at the moment," says Casey, smirking. Olivia laughs.

"I swear he's the only one of us who can really keep a personal life out of the squad room nowadays," she says.

"Wasn't that way this summer," says Casey, and shakes her head. "I still can't believe I lost that. We had everything…"

"Everything but a confession," says Olivia. "I could never make it as a lawyer."

Casey shakes her head. "I bet you could," she says. "You just…want to make everything right. So do I."

"Suppose you could say we all got our priorities straight through what happened, though," says Olivia.

"In some ways, yes. In other ways, no. I'm lucky I didn't get fired," says Casey and makes a face as she goes on. "Suppose you could say a few good things came out of it."

"Finally, someone you can stand," says Olivia, and both women laugh.

"Yeah, finally," says Casey. "It's been a while."

And Olivia knows exactly what she means, because of a conversation they had a while back. They're silent until the guys finally catch up with them again.

"Cat got your tongues?" John asks, and the question, for some reason, strikes both women as amusing, so they laugh, and skate away.

* * *

"You lot, help your mother. She asks you to do something this morning, do it." Elliot bends down to tie his shoes, and looks up at the three standing before him. "I mean it."

"Don't worry, Dad, we will," Kathleen says dryly, "I don't have to work today, so I'll be around."

"You call me if you need anything, and I'll find a way to get home," Elliot tells her, reaching for his keys. "You two, go to school."

"It's only seven," says Dickie, mildly, "We don't even leave until seven-thirty."

"Well, you'd better not miss the bus then, because your mother isn't driving you, and neither is Kathleen," comes the reply. "Homework done?"

"Yeah, it's done," says Elizabeth, "Where is Mom, anyway?"

"She's asleep, and don't you dare wake her up before she's ready, either." Elliot takes his coat off the rack near the door and pulls the door open. "I am going to work. Like I said, if you need anything, call. My phone will be on."  
He leaves. The kids exchange glances and shake their heads.

"Paranoid," says Elizabeth, and goes into the fridge for the orange juice.

"Dad drank straight out of there again," says Kathleen, but Elizabeth shrugs and pours a glass anyway.

"Who cares? We're all family anyway; doesn't matter," she says. "You really don't have to work today?"  
"No. In fact, I don't work all week, so I'll be around to keep an eye on Mom, and maybe then Dad will quit freaking out."

"I doubt it." Dickie glances at the clock on the wall, and motions to Elizabeth. "We should go across the street and poke at JD."  
"You should poke at her; she won't take a swing at you," says Elizabeth, but she picks up her backpack anyway. "Let's go."

They leave. Kathleen watches them walk across the street and rolls her eyes, before going to do the breakfast dishes.

* * *

"I wouldn't be so on edge if it wasn't so close to the date," Elliot points out, and Olivia rolls her eyes.

"Your kids know how to use a phone," she tells him, but he shakes his head.

"Kathleen still can't drive, remember?" he says. "How are they supposed to get to the hospital if she's the only one home?"

"You could ask to take time off, you know," Olivia tells him, but he shakes his head again.

"No, I can't, not right now," he says, "Kathy's already on leave; I don't think it'd be such a good idea for me to be on leave, too."

"Besides that, then you really would shoot yourself," says Olivia. He glares at her.

"You aren't funny."

"I wasn't trying to be." She trails off and sighs. "You need to quit being so skittish. I've got your back, but do you have mine?"

"You know I do. We're not going there again."

"Fine. Now will you quit fidgeting? You're starting to bother me. It's just a trial, Elliot. We've done this before."

"Yeah, well, I wasn't waiting on something else the last time we did, now was I?"

Olivia rolls her eyes. She's learned better than to mess with him when he's in this mood.

"I swear if I never see you so nervous again…You weren't even like this when Gitano had a gun to your head," she says.

"Notice how we've been trained to stay calm in those situations," Elliot retorts, twisting his ring around his finger. "I can't do this. I can't just sit here."  
"Then walk around or something," says Olivia. But then his cell phone rings, and before she can say anything else, he takes off.

* * *

They sit. Patience is a virtue, Maureen had said to her father earlier, but he hadn't listened, and had instead disappeared into the delivery room. She and her siblings had opted to wait.

"What're the odds we end up with another girl in this family?" Elizabeth asks. "I mean, there are three of us already."

"If I end up with another sister, you're going to find me hanging from one of the ceiling fans," says Dickie, without looking up from the latest video game he's playing.

"Yeah, right," says Kathleen. "We'll find out when we find out. I just think it's funny that we're all so old and now there's going to be another baby around."

"Yeah, that's just what we need. Some kid keeping us awake at night because it hasn't figured out that some people actually have things to do come morning," says Elizabeth. Maureen laughs.

"You guys trying to put me off having kids, or is that just me?" she asks. Kathleen rolls her eyes.

"Like you could ever be put off having kids," she says, and then, "You two figure out when yet?"

"Still debating. Next year, definitely. When is still up in the air." Maureen replies, and drums her fingertips on one of the armrests.

"That's so weird," says Dickie, still without looking up. "Mom's having a baby and you're getting married. This is like a freaking movie or something."  
"Watch," says Elizabeth, smirking, "By the time Maureen ends up pregnant, Mom will be having another one, too."

"Now, that's weird," says Kathleen, and there's silence for a split second before all four siblings burst into laughter.

* * *

For some reason, they're all asleep when he goes into the waiting room to look for them. There they are, all in a row, from oldest to youngest, and for some reason, this makes him laugh.

"Figures," he says, to the bundle in his arms. "First your mom, and now the lot of them. Looks like it's just you and me for now."

The bundle doesn't answer, not that he much expected it to. Of all the things that have come over the past year…this is definitely one of those things that he doesn't mind.

"Suppose we should leave them alone, then, huh?" he asks, but again, no answer comes. He sighs. "You're gonna have to learn to talk one of these days, kid."

Nothing but a yawn. He laughs, and pulls his cell phone out of his pocket, turning it on again. "Fine then," he says. "Have it your way."

There's voicemail, and a text message, from Olivia. _"How goes it?" _she's asked, and Elliot laughs, shifting his new baby in his arms as he goes to sit, so he can answer.

_"Pretty well, considering. Everyone fell asleep, goes to show how eventful this was, no?" _He pauses for a moment, and then goes on 'typing', smiling faintly.

_"I have another son." _


End file.
